Star Boating Club “Row-A-Thon”

ERG!!Here’s a bit of fun to be had – the Star Boating Club (that’s that cool place by the lagoon that you’ve probably attended more than a few weddings at, or other occasions & got yourself completely trashed & may or may not have ended up in the water in your dinner suit or ball gown…) in conjunction with Wellington Girls College, Queen Margaret’s College and Wellington College, is holding a 20 hour Row-A-Thon to raise funds for the current season of races, regattas & camps.

It takes place at the Reading Complex Foyer (Courtney Place) between 4pm Friday December 8, and Noon Saturday December 9.

And what is a Row-A-Thon when it’s at home? Well… they’re putting 3 ERG machines (that’s shorthand for Rowing Machine apparently – I’m not sure if it is acronymous, or if it represents the noise the average person makes while being subjected to operating it), one will be operated continuously for 20 hours by the boys’ teams, another by the girls, and the third dear reader, is for you to have a go at.

The rowers have been diligently scouring their neighbourhoods, families, and families’ business colleagues getting sponsorship, and on the day, those not ERGing will be shaking tins & persuading punters to part with a little Xmas dosh. All for a good cause – those ERGs & the boats don’t grow on trees you know.

So head on down for a look – 91FM & the Black Thunders will be down there at 4pm Friday dispensing cheer & freestuff – or if you happen to be passing, please do donate a little spare for, as I may have mentioned, a very good cause.

And of course, you have the opportunity to try an ERG for yourself. It has to be good for you right?, and there is almost no chance you’ll end up in the lagoon. Bonus.

Make the society pages with us

Shiny like an Oscar. But drinkableBy now you’ve either cast your votes for the First Annual Wellingtonista Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence, or you’re still trying to decide whether you <3 Good Luck or San Frindigo more. You might want to get a wriggle on with that, as voting closes at 5pm on Thursday.

Thanks very much for voting, it’s very choice that you got involved. If you’d like to get even more involved with us (ooer!), please come along to our awards ceremony at Mighty Mighty (above Mr Bun in Cuba Mall) on Friday night.

Drinks will start out at 6.30pm and the awards themselves will probably kick off around 7pm.

If you haven’t met us yet, you’ll be able to spot us easily as we’ll be the ridiculously attractive people patting ourselves on the back.

We’ll be drawing names for prizes then too, but as we are good people your attendance is not mandatory in order to win. However, what possible reason could you have for not wanting to attend?

If you would like to buy us drinks, naturally a dry martini would be the standard, but we imagine that we would drink pretty much anything you gave us.

It should all be a frightfully good time, and we look forward to seeing you there.

Muka

The Settlers Museum is hosting the MUKA YOUTH PRINT EXHIBITION 2006.

The exhibition features a collection of forty original lithographs by twenty prominent artists from New Zealand, Australia and Europe.

The exhibition is unique in that it is only open to young people aged 5 to 18. The idea is that young people are given the opportunity to see, select and buy an art work that they like, uninfluenced by adults or the name of the artist. All the works reflect the normal style of the artists and there is no “talking down” to the children.

The uniform low price means that this is an excellent way for young people to get real works of art into their hands.

Settlers Museum
The Esplanade
Petone

25 and 26 November
12 noon – 5pm

Mother Baby & Child Show

In your spare moments not spent at Craftwerk this weekend, you may like to come out to sunny Hutt City for the Mother Baby and Child Show. This free event features an array of exhibits from enterprising mothers (catchily titled Mumz Biz).

Not wishing to pimp my own ride too much, watch me pimp my ride. Babylicious will be there, as will uber-local-clever-evil-bears, the Scrappers.Srappers pillows

Horticultural Hall, Laings Road, Lower Hutt.

Sunday, October 22nd – 10.30am to 5.00pm

Monday, October 23rd – 10.00am to 5.00pm

How am I funny?

I'm here to fucking amuse you?

What do ya mean, funny? Let me understand this cause, I don’t know maybe it’s me, I’m a little fucked up maybe, but I’m funny how? I mean, funny like I’m a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh… I’m here to fuckin’ amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?

Errr, that’s not really relevant, but it is a good scene.

Anyway, if you think you are funny, register yourself for the Wellington Comedy Club’s Rookie competition, taking place at the San Francisco Bathhouse on October 21st (as per the Comedy Club’s website), or maybe the the 19th of October (as per Newtown Ghetto Anger’s website). Head over to the Wellington Comedy Club website for more details.

There’s also a related workshop for budding comedians to hone their skills – a one hour session with some local pros on the 12th of October, again at the SF Bathhouse. More details on that at Newtown Ghetto Anger.

Craftwerk returns

Don’t leave town this Labour Weekend, and if you do, make sure you’re back by Monday 23rd October.

From 2-5pm at the Southern Cross, there were be a plethora of fabulous craft, beer and rock n roll baby.

More detail as soon as it emerges.

Inhabitable art

Wellington Architecture Week - pamphlet cover imageWellington Architecture Week kicks off next Monday, including everything from a visit to the exquisite and hidden Futuna Chapel to a sandcastle competition on Petone Beach.

My WellUrban post gives a bit of context, including links to relevant developments and controversies, and the full illustrated programme (in glorious black, white and blue) is available on the Architectural Centre website, but here’s a text listing of all events.

The Player and the Advocate

the player and the advocate

Oscar is a hotshot young actor in the bustling Elizabethan Wellington theatre scene, loved by the Publick, but resented by the authorities. When he is kicked out of his theatre company for ‘improvising’, he must fight, not only to get his job back, but also to stop the Queen from pushing the country into all-out war…

What if Wellington were the centre of the Elizabethan world, pioneering an explosion in theatre, fashion, new music and coffeehouses at the birth of the modern age?

Awesome. The short pitch is ‘Whale Rider meets Shakespeare in Love’, but the above is the longer synopsis of the plot for The Player and the Advocate – a new film being written by Wellingtonian John Parker.

John’s having a public reading of the feature film treatment on…

Sunday 1st October, 4:00pm
@ Katipo Café, 76 Willis Street, Wellington
Duration: 1 hour (45 minutes for reading, 15 minutes feedback session)
Cost: free!
Featuring: Erin Banks and James Stewart, two of Wellington’s finest theatrical talent

…so feel free to head along and help shape what will hopefully be one of the next great pieces of Wellington film-making at its earliest stages.

More info at the official website.

Newtown words

Newtown spoken word - flier
Tomorrow night, the Newtown Community and Cultural Centre hosts Newtown Spoken Word Winter 06, an open mike event organised by the Word Collective, the people who brought you Sk8board Poets, Karaoke Poetry and the Word Festivals. It starts at 7:30pm at the corner of Rintoul & Colombo streets, and entry is by koha. For more information, call Craig on 027 242 3453.

Musique Non Stop

While you were sleeping poster, 05/08/06(right, that’s the obligatory Kraftwerk reference out of the way)

This weekend’s a busy one for followers of electronic and dance music. Tomorrow night, Module‘s live band (including Rhian Sheehan and Raashi Malik) plays the late set at Cabaret. From there, it’s just a quick jaunt along Courtenay Place to Sandwiches for Rhombus, who will be starting at about … oh, whenever gigs start at Sandwiches these days.

After a late night like that, on Saturday you might be in the mood for something more laid-back, so try out While_you_were_sleeping‘s explorations of ambient and experimental sounds at Room 101 (under Bar Bodega) from 8pm. To get a preview of the sounds on offer, listen to The Session on Radio Active tonight, featuring tracks and interviews from some of the artists involved (inclding Pang, Panoramica and Anaesthesia Associates).

So So Modern, Disasteradio and Chairman Miaow, will be playing an Amnesty International benefit show at Indigo The San Francisco Bathouse from 9:30. And if you’ve any pills energy left, Concord Dawn and Minuit are playing not one but two gigs at Subnine: all-ages from 7pm to 10pm, and grown-ups only from 11pm.